Catching Fire
Catching Fire is the forth chapter of Volume 2: The Connoisseur. It aired on January 7, 2011. Synopsis The investigation into the Second Chance Initiative leads Mal and Natara to Ramsey Brand, a firefighter with the SFFD. Has Ramsey outgrown his history of arson or does his new job stoke the fire within? Plot April Ruane is home with her husband and two kids. She is talking on the phone when she notices smoke coming from the kitchen, and opens the kitchen door to find it engulfed in flames. While trying to escape she is pinned down by a fallen rafter, but she is found by a firefighter. When she asks him about her kids, he tells her that they didn't make it, and only one can be spared. Later, Mal Fallon and Agent Natara Williams are on the scene. They are investigating patients that were released from Millbrook through Second Chance Initiative, which include Eric Mills. Their only lead is Jonah Grave, institutionalized as a pyromaniac, who changed his name to Ramsey Brand and became firefighter. At the scene of the fire, Officer Joe Bartaugh tells them the only survivor was the mother, April Ruane, who is nearby grieving next to the firefighter who saved her. Natara asks Bartaugh for Ramsey Brand, and he tells her that Ramsey ran into the house and saved the mother, and is now comforting her. After hearing this, Mal expresses doubt that Ramsey is a killer like Eric Mills, but Natara tells him Eric also did his job and caught killers in order to keep his cover. Mal and Natara approach Ramsey and question him. When Natara asks him about Jonah Graves, he says that's a name he hasn't heard in a long time. Just then, Deputy Mayor Seth Holland arrives and tries to escort Ramsey away, but Natara tells him Ramsey is under investigation. Seth tells Mal and Natara to be careful. Later, Natara questions Ramsey Brand in the interrogation room. She asks him why he changed his name from Jonah Graves, and he says it was because of his history. Natara asks if he meant history of pyromania, and Ramsey confesses he did play with fire as a kid. One time he started a fire in the basement, which burned down his house and killed his parents and his little brother. Ramsey starts sobbing, but Natara can tell he's faking it. Natara asks if Ramsey was contacted by a benefactor. Ramsey first seems to not know what she meant, but then says cryptically that fire is insatiable, and that "it can be delayed, but it won't be denied". The interrogation is interrupted by Captain Maria Yeong, who wants both Natara and Mal in her office. Waiting in the office is Seth Holland, who had told the captain Mal and Natara had pulled Ramsey Brand in for interrogation. Natara protests that Ramsey was part of an open investigation. However, the mayor does not want a hero being interrogated. After Seth leaves, Mal thanks Maria for backing them up, but she tells them she wants Ramsey Brand released immediately. When they protest, Maria tells them she heard of Natara's visit to Millbrook and Mal's deal with the Flores Cartel, and warns them that they do things by the book. After Ramsey is released, Mal tells Natara he had put a tail on Ramsey. Mal wonders if Ramsey is innocent, but Natara feels that something was off about Ramsey during the interrogation. Then, Natara's mom calls her and tells her that the hotel where Neha was supposed to be staying at had no record of her. Anita asks Natara if she can look into it, and Natara relents. According to Neha, the hotel that she should be staying at was one where Natara had gone with her before, when she had made out with "some guy". The call is interrupted by Mal, who says the lab techs have something important. In the lab, Amy Chen tells them that each fire where Ramsey had rescued someone had been preceded by other fires, which ended up diverting the fire department's resources. Also, in each fire, only one out of four family members survived, just like what had happened with Ramsey's family. Each survivor had also committed suicide a few weeks later, right before setting their houses on fire. On the way to April Ruane, Natara realizes what Ramsey meant by "fire can be delayed, but not denied", he was talking about saving people from fires and then sending them back. Mal gets a call and tells her that the tail he had put on Ramsey lost him. When they arrive at the house, the floor is covered in gasoline. Ramsey attacks them with a fireman's ax, but misses and embeds it in the doorframe. As Ramsey flees, Mal and Natara find April Ruane hanging from a noose in a bedroom but still alive. While Mal helps her down, Natara chases Ramsey as he pours gas out to the front yard and tackles him as he is holding an unlit road flare. Ramsey lights the road flare next to the trail of gasoline. Natara says that when he said "fire can be delayed but not denied", he was talking about himself being marked because of his family's death. He tells her she understand him, and almost figured out the game. Natara asks him what "game" he meant, but before he answers, the gas ignites, killing Ramsey and spreading to the house. Natara jumps away just as the house explodes. Natara yells out Mal's name, thinking he was inside, but after a moment he appears. Later, Captain Yeong tells them Eric's benefactor is now worth investigating. Privately, Mal asks Natara what Ramsey had said. She tells him that Ramsey said she was playing a game, although she didn't know what he meant. Natara is worried about her sister, who had said she was staying at a hotel in Las Vegas where she and Natara had gone after she graduated, and Natara had made out with some guy. However, Natara was studying for grad school at the time. Natara tells Mal she thinks her sister is in trouble. Bonus Scene A few days earlier, Ramsey Brand talks to the Burned Man on his phone. Ramsey feels that this was "the one". The Burned Man says he will send him April Ruane's address. After hanging up, the Burned Man goes over to Neha and gives her a script to read from. Neha protests that the script was wrong, and Natara had never made out with some guy at a hotel. The Burned Man tells her to just read it, word for word. Category:Chapters Category:Volume 2: The Connoisseur